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Letter to the Editor – 10/16/13

I am no fan of Michelle Malkin, but her column “Obama Lied, My Health Plan Died” was an eye-opener. As one who believes we need a national health care system, I supported the president’s plan. But if he was wrong in one of his principal arguments – if you like your current plan, you can keep it – it makes me wonder what else he was wrong (or lying) about.

Denise Lee
Honolulu

Worst economy?

Hooray for MidWeek columnists Dan Boylan, Jade Moon, Roger Simon and E. J. Dionne for nailing the three dozen right-wing whacko-bird Tea Party Republican congressmen for shutting down government and taking our nation hostage because they lost when the votes were cast to pass health care reform for the United States.

And auwe to columnist Jerry Coffee who, in his relentless crusade against Barack Obama, claims that “in my lifetime … we’ve never been so weak economically” as we are today.

At first I thought Mr. Coffee must have been born after the Great Depression. But thanks to Google, I know he was born June 2, 1934. And born, in all places, in Modesto, Calif., which could have been the setting for John Steinbeck’s powerful portrait of American poverty in The Grapes of Wrath.

I suppose we should be thankful that Mr. Coffee is not also complaining about “that man,” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, for his efforts to guide us out of the really tough economic times Coffee seems to have forgotten about entirely.

Walter Wright
Kaneohe

Friendly Israel

Having read some anti-Israel letters in MidWeek recently, I feel compelled to write. I recently had the good fortune to visit the State of Israel, and was fascinated by the warmth of the people.

Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East. It is a country where Americans can feel welcome and walk around freely. In fact, Israel is engaged in hi-tech, agricultural and scientific developments, to name a few areas similar to Hawaii. It also offers desirable climate, nice beaches and challenging hiking adventures, along with ancient culture. In fact, the kahuna that we have here in Hawaii may have ties to the cahuna (priests) in Israel.

Israel is an oasis in the center of the Middle East, and Hawaii an Island paradise in the Mid-Pacific. I highly recommend a visit to this fascinating destination.

By the way, two of the three Nobel Laureates just named were of Israeli roots.

J. Cassen
East Honolulu

New rules

Dan Boylan, in his “The Radical Right’s New Rules” column, cites “extremist” Republicans, who are accused of causing a shutdown over Obamacare, for ignoring what we all learned in civics classes, to wit that a law passed by the Legislature, signed by the president and surviving a Supreme Court challenge is the law of the land and must be followed, period. As they say, “rules is rules.” But Mr. Boylan failed to note another civics lesson – that laws be faithfully implemented by the executive, currently Barack Obama. His administration, however, ignores this lesson. For example, delaying the Obamacare mandate for big business, not prosecuting marijuana laws, side-stepping a Supreme Court ruling with the Justice Department’s harassment of states establishing voter identification rules and waiving deportation rules for youthful undocumented immigrants. Is this lawlessness the radical left’s new rules?

Tom FreitasHawaii Kai

Science-based?

There may be an obligation to present both sides, but Monsanto vice president Fred Perlak’s letter to the editor includes “science-based assessments … support the consensus that biotech crops are as safe as conventional foods.”

To make this claim before the facts are known is unwarranted and irresponsible. That there is a correlation between the increase in GMO foods and the increase in cancers

Whether or not it is coincidental or causal has yet to be established.

Many other countries have done the prudent thing and banned GMOs. If we find out later that the correlations are coincidental, we always can allow some GMO foods again. But what if we learn that they are causal?

Roy (Sky) Wyttenbach
Waikiki

Palm-greasing

Being the news and editorial junkie that I am, last night I had a dream: Gov. Richard Borreca, Mayor Cynthia Oi, City Council Chair David Shapiro, Senate President Laura Thielen and House Speaker Scott Saiki were all there.

Here I am today, the reality of a pro-development government, unsupervised and goaded by existing leadership, and our state and city remain a mess, with no vision for our future even remotely evident.

Strip the HCDA and HART of their powers. Our elected leaders should be tackling the issues we face and stick to the laws, with no unilateral, palm-greasing exemptions. All those making decisions on behalf of our citizenry must listen to the voices of the people and the experts.

Our government leaders need all the help they can get – unless, of course, my dream comes true. Please remember this when we vote, and vote with track records on our minds.

Mary J. Culvyhouse
Kaneohe

Send your letters to dchapman@midweek.com.Letters may be editedfor clarity and space.